DS9 Story Concepts
by A Raven's Heart
Summary: A collection of unfinished stories and ideas based on the Deep Space Nine series.
1. Introduction

I was reminded today that I have a number of Deep Space Nine stories just sitting on my harddrive unfinished. And after seeing that there are people interested in what I've written for the series to date (my drabble series), I thought that I'd put them up for people to read and give feedback on. Rather than try and make a separate story out of each, everything will be included in their own chapters.

I cannot promise anything, but if there is a story idea that you really like and would like to see more of, please feel free to leave feedback for me (or even shoot me an email). Sometimes I lose interest in ideas when I think that no one will actually like it or if I believe they may think it's lame. So please don't stay quiet if you liked something - tell me! And I just might try to finish it (:

Chapter titles will reflect the title (or working title I had) for the story/idea.****

Disclaimer - applies to all following chapters._  
STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc._


	2. Kira's Log

Major Kira paced in her quarters, the Federation had finally retaken the station and at great cost, but she couldn't settle. There were things on her mind that she couldn't seem to put at ease or get rid of. So with a deep breath, she began a personal log, hoping that by talking it out, she could come to terms with everything.

"First Officer's Personal Log – Stardate 21245.2."

"It started a little less than a week ago. The Dominion was still occupying the station; the minefield was close to being brought down. Myself, Jake, Leeta, and Quark were all meeting to discuss what to do, having heard that Starfleet was on the way to the station – or at least attempting to reach us before the Dominion brought the minefield down."

"Computer – pause recording." Kira sighed and slumped into a chair, rubbing her temples. She didn't really know how to put any of this, but she still felt like it needed to be said. Getting up, she walked over to the replicator and ordered herself a drink. Picking it up, she started to pace again.

"Computer – resume recording." At the chime, she began again.

"We had to do something, buy the Captain some time to get here with the fleet. I was ready to smuggle a bomb to the main computer core, to shut the whole station down. It was a risk, but I had been willing to make it. I keep telling myself that what happened next was something I had to do – for Jake and Leeta's sakes, for the sake of Bajor, and even for the sake of Starfleet, but somehow the words don't help me anymore."

"Computer – pause recording." She ordered again, stopping at the window and staring out at the stars. She let out another sigh, taking a drink from her mug and then squeezing her eyes shut. "Resume recording."

"We went with the security detail that had come for us. With four armed Cardassians, even I didn't stand a chance, and I refused to put Jake or Leeta in any danger.


	3. Mirror, Mirror

A groan broke my concentration upon the door leading into the cell area. Looking down,

I let out a sigh and sat back down on the bench, still observing my cell mate. Suddenly, I started to laugh.

"You know it's funny, I never pictured myself in the same cell as you, Damar."

"Glad you find the situation so amusing, Commander."

He rubbed the back of his head and sat up, peering up at my from behind his deep set blue eyes. It really wasn't funny, because we'd been captured in the process of being transported. Clearly it had been easy to overpower us, I didn't remember a thing and judging by the way my Cardassian cell mate was rubbing the back of his head, he didn't either. I don't even remember rematerializing, just waking up in this damned cell. The place was dark, and I couldn't see much past the force field. Said field was also all that gave us light.

"Where are we?"

I scowled down at Damar, incredulous that he'd ask such a stupid question.

"Don't you think I would have told you if I knew?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and pulled my knees up and onto the bench, glaring at the humming force field, as if I'd be able to shut it off with my annoyed look – I never had so much luck.

"Oh good, you're both awake."

My eyes opened wide in shock as the familiar silky voice broke the silence we had been sitting in. I couldn't make her out at first, she was just a shadow moving about the room, but her movements and voice were unmistakable – I knew exactly where we were. I stood up and approached the force field, hands on my hips as I glared through the shimmering light to my counterpart – the former Intendent of Terok Nor. This wasn't Terok Nor, though, I don't know where it was, but I knew we were in the mirror universe and I didn't like it. I could hear Damar getting to his feet behind me, and coming up to my side and stare wide eyed at the woman who looked exactly like me.

My counterpart almost giggled, "She hasn't told you where we are?"

"I didn't know until now."

I said defensively through gritted teeth. I gave a sidelong glance to the Cardassian standing next to me; he looked as if he thought he was having some horrible nightmare. I couldn't blame him, I'm pretty sure he still didn't like me and what was worse than having to deal with me? Dealing with two of me, at least in a sense.

Suddenly I realized something, Garak wasn't around; neither Garak, for that matter. Our Garak, though, had been on the transporter with us, but hadn't been taken, clearly. I remember hearing Quark saying something about this universe's Garak being dead, and apparently one was enough for them.

"Who's your handsome friend?"

My eyes snapped back to the Intendent, who managed to watch both of us very intently. At the look on my face, she laughed and continued.

"Oh come now, I saw the way you were just looking at him – he's someone special, isn't he?"

I gritted my teeth and resisted the urge to glance at Damar, who had taken a step back and, I could swear, closer to me. I can't blame him, though; it is all a little unnerving. I still haven't gotten used to staring at myself yet, and I'd been here before.

"No one you need to concern yourself with."

I finally took a defensive step in front of him, so it was just me and her face to face, "Now, what do you want? Why did you bring us here?"

"I get lonely, sometimes – I miss you."

The sweet look in her eyes as she tried to act as innocent as possible made me sick. I snorted and stalked away to the back of the cell, Damar followed me.

"Commander, what is going on here?"

His voice was low; actually, he was unnervingly close to me. Normally, I'd protest or say something about it, but used it as an opportunity to talk to him really quickly before the Intendent got impatient.

"We're in a parallel universe. Everyone has or had a counterpart here; it's different than our universe, though, so just stick close to me."

He nodded and we both turned around, I took the lead and went right back to my counterpart.

"What do you want us to do?"


	4. Post War Party

The party was, for the most part, in full swing. Kira Nerys, however was feeling a bit uneasy – this all still felt very surreal for her. They were all talking about change, and how things were going to be different, but she couldn't seem to pull herself to focus on the future. Things had already changed greatly, and the only comfort she could find stood protectively beside her. He'd been by her side for a while now, it almost seemed longer than it really was, but fighting in a resistance did that to a person's internal clock.

Kira had missed the Captain's toast, but had been able to pretend she heard it. She leaned back into her support as Vic started his dedication for the song he was about to start, bouncing off what Sisko had said, apparently. It was funny, Kira noted, how she felt like the only support she had was a man she used to hate. But none of the others had been there with them; Garak hadn't even come back to the station. Actually, Kira knew that her company for the evening was only here because of necessity. He had needed a doctor and who better than, well, the best?

As Vic started to sing, we all turned to watch. He remained behind him, putting his hands upon my shoulders protectively. Kira knew the others were probably wanting to ask all sorts of questions, but no one wanted to ruin the moment to ask them. As they all watched Vic descend from the stage as he sang, Kira felt strong arms around her waist, pulling her closer. The embrace was so warm and so comforting, hardly what she would have ever imagined from him. But the two of them were so alike now, they were both broken and alone and in that they found comfort and solace in each other's company.

The Bajoran let out a soundless laugh as their crooner directed his song at her for a moment. And as he returned to the stage, she allowed the smile to stay on her lips, though it softened. Though this was supposed to be a party, supposed to be happy, it was a bitter happiness for her and she knew it had to be for the others as well. A dear friend was gone, and his presence was sorely missed at this party, and would be forever missed their entire lives.

At these thoughts, tears started to well up in her eyes and Kira pulled away from her support and left the holosuite without a word. Everyone stared after her, and even Vic gave paused. All eyes then fell to the companion she had just left behind. Uncomfortable under the scrutiny, he dashed out after her.


	5. Post DS9

I feel this story needs a bit of an introduction. If you've read my Fortune Favors the Bold story, then it might make a bit more sense, otherwise: The half Cardassian (Kaydence) is one of my older Star Trek OCs, she'd half Cardassian and half Vulcan. This story was intended to follow the end of the DS9 series, since Kaydence is Starfleet, she was assigned to the station post Sisko's departure to help keep a Starfleet presence there. The rest, I hope, will make sense from simply reading it (:

* * *

The new security chief looked up when she heard the doors to her office open. A smile spread across her lips.

"Colonel, I was hoping you'd come by."

The half Cardassian was reclined back in her seat, feet up and crossed on her desk, a padd in hand. She noticed that the Bajoran seemed uneasy, maybe even upset – she was hard to read.

"I don't believe this; you're just as arrogant as him."

Kaydence brought her feet down to the ground and arched a brow ridge at the Colonel.

"Just like who?" She drawled out in question, observing the station's commander as she seemed to struggle with being there.

"Damar." The Bajoran snapped in almost a hiss, "When I asked for new officers, I didn't ask for a Cardassian!"

"The Hero of Cardassia? I'm flattered, Colonel."

The security chief couldn't help but chuckle a little as she sat where she was, shaking her head. The younger women tossed the padd she was holding over the desk and onto the chair on the other side, next to where her commander stood. With a confused look, the Bajoran leaned over a picked it up, looking it over.

"What is this?"

"Colonel," she drawled out, standing up and leaning forward on the desk as she continued to watch her commanding officer, "If you really had a problem with my ridges, you would have lodged an official complaint with Starfleet by now… requesting my transfer off the station."

Kira looked up from the padd to the half Cardassian standing behind the desk; she easily righted herself and sat back down gracefully, tugging on the front of her uniform in the process to straighten it out.

"You're monitoring all transmissions to and from the station?" The commander asked, almost sounding incredulous.

"Let's face it," the Starfleet officer deflected the question by continuing down her train of thought. "You're upset with me because I'm not Odo."

The scowl that crossed the other woman's face was none too pleasant, but Kaydence was hardly effected by it, reclining back again in her seat.

"I'm upset with you because you're just another arrogant Cardassian."

"I wonder," Kaydence stood up again and started to pace behind the desk, looking at Kira periodically, "Why this discussion came up so soon. I've done nothing to hurt the station; I've done nothing but my job."

"Doesn't matter," the Colonel hissed and stormed out of the room.

The half Cardassian sat back down at her desk, watching the bustle outside the door for a bit before absorbing herself in her work again.

***

What felt like only a few minutes later, though it was probably a couple hours, the doors to the security office were sliding open again. Kaydence looked up from her work and a huge smile spread across her lips.

"Gar!"

"How are you adjusting, Enye?"

"Decently enough, it'll be hard not to be on a moving ship, though – I've never been posted on a station before." She observed as she got up from her seat and walked around her desk to greet her long time friend and former commanding officer.

He spread his arms out and easily embraced her. It was almost amazing they could still be friends, at least from Enye's point of view. They had broken off all intimate relations a couple months prior to her reassignment and she had felt like he had been avoiding her for a while. Things had changed, though, and this was certainly the happiest she'd seen him since then.

"I'm sure you'll manage." His words broke her thoughts and she chuckled, moving back around her desk and sitting down.


	6. The Red Dress

"What do you mean Dr. Bashir's not here?"

"I mean just that, but don't worry Major; we have other capable doctors on board."

"Oh no, I don't trust anyone else to return me to normal."

Sisko threw up his hands in self defense from the seething Major Kira, still looking like a Cardassian. He had to admit, they had done an amazing job, if one didn't know better, they'd probably assume she was a Cardassian. It was this fact that was much to Major Kira's dismay. She hadn't said anything else to him, turned on her heal and stormed out of his office. She had already seen Legate Ghemor off, and had expected to be back to normal by now, but was still very much Cardassian in appearance.

The captain let out a sigh and picked up a padd that he had laid down on his desk at her entrance, shaking his head a bit and letting out the faintest of chuckles as he got back to work.

***

"Ah, Major, I've been looking for you."

Said woman rolled her eyes, "What do you want, Garak?" Eyes snapped to the Cardassian, whose own were alight with mischief, or so Kira saw.

"Oh nothing in particular, I just wanted to know how you were… adjusting." He carefully selected his last word, a somewhat devious smile upon his features as he looked to her.

The pair walked side by side, much to Kira's dismay, along the Promenade. Kira's temper was close to flaring up again as she shot a dangerous glare at the tailor.

"Not now, Garak." She finally snapped, turning her icy glare away from him and trying to hunt for something as an excuse to get away from him.

"As you wish, but I am here to help – uh, should you require it."

"Yeah, I'll bet." The Bajoran-turned-Cardassian hissed.

Garak wasn't leaving her side, though, and Kira tried to fume to herself. This failed, however, as she cast periodic glances in his direction. But from each glance, she only saw him observing the Promenade, as if he wasn't still walking right in stride with her. Hands clasped behind his back for a moment as he finally turned to her.

"The Order does amazing work, doesn't it?"

"Simply wonderful," she hissed sarcastically, stopping when they were near an empty corridor, so no one else would have to witness their confrontation.

The Cardassian male grinned at her, observing her choice of stopping points. Hands came unclasped as he reached one up to "admire" the work along her neck.

"I see their standards have not slipped." He observed as a sharp intake of breath came from Kira.

"What…" The Major trailed off, shaking her head and grabbing his wrist to pull his hand away from the ridges along her neck. "What do you mean?" She tried again, not releasing his hand, for fear he'd touch the sensitive spot again.

"I mean the attention to detail." Garak grinned wickedly at her, "They wanted you to think you were a Cardassian alright. Though it shouldn't surprise me, Entek always was meticulous in his work." He pulled his hand from her grasp and gave her one final trademark Cardassian smirk before turning and leaving her to stand alone in the corridor to ponder his parting words.

Finally too irritated to think anymore, Kira stormed down to Quark's and ordered a strong drink. She was still getting strange looks from those nearby, and this made her snap… again.

"What?! You've never seen someone taken captive by the Obsidian Order and altered to look like a Cardassian?!" Well, none of them had, but that didn't stop her.

With a frown, Quark approached her empty handed. "I'm sorry Major, but you're upsetting my customers, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Her head snapped up to him, a glare piercing into the Ferengi, "Excuse me?" Her voice rose up an octave for a moment as she questioned the small alien.

"You heard me." The bartender motioned toward the door and only got an irritated noise in return as she stormed out, grabbing a bottle of liquor off the bar on her way out. Quark let this go, though, shaking his head and returning back to his place behind the bar.

***

Kira stormed up to Ops, looking to have her mind taken off of, well, everything. The bottle of liquor had been forgotten. She wasn't scheduled to work, and it had been some time since she had been up there talking with Sisko. Eddington looked up from his work when he heard the turbolift bring someone up to Ops with him and the small team of Bajorans there.

"Are you alright, Major Kira?" The tall, slender man asked, hesitant to approach her.

"Fine," she responded, starting to work at a consol and blatantly not looking at any one else occupying the heart of the station.

"You're not scheduled a shift right now, and I think we've got it." Eddington glanced nervously at the male Bajoran next to him, then back to the Major.

It was here that Dax popped her head up from where she was working. The look she sent to Eddington told him not to worry, and she'd handle it.

"I'm going to Benjamin's for dinner as soon as I get off my shift, would you like to come?" The Trill science officer asked calmly as she approached the pissed off Bajoran-turned-Cardassian with a warming smile.

Kira looked up and glared in general, "Fine." She cut power to the terminal she'd been working on and left.

A sigh escaped Jadzia's lips as she turned and looked to the other Starfleet officer, who looked relieved as well.

***

Stopping by her quarters first, Kira Nerys changed out of her uniform. She stood for a long time, staring at her wardrobe and wondering what wouldn't look horrible with her temporary scales. The door chimed and Kira sighed as she barked at whoever was at the door.

"What?!"

No answer came, though she heard the swish of the door opening. Shaking her head, she waited for whoever it was to come to her, she was not far in her room and was too caught up in trying to find what to wear to the Captain's dinner. Nothing came, though. Not a sound – no words, no footsteps – only the swish of the door opening and closing again as whomever it was disappeared.

With furrowed brows, Kira peered around the corner to see a decent sized box sitting on the table. Confused, she put down the garments she was fussing with and edged forward to it. Who had left it? And more importantly: why?

With cautious steps, Kira very carefully approached and touched the simple box. It was very plain, and gave no indication as to who had left it. A simple note attached to it read "thought you'd like something nice", but this didn't help Kira decide who it was that had left it. Maybe it was Dax trying to cheer her up? But why the secrecy? Why make it anonymous?

Sliding the top of the box off, Kira caught her breath as she looked at the garment. It was a stunning silk dress. The red was much like her uniform, except deeper and richer. The vibrant color stunned Kira as she wondered silently how much something like this would have cost. Carefully pulling it out, she looked the whole thing over. It was a little more revealing than what she normally wore, but she was apparently going to a nice dinner, so why not? She'd get on Dax about the gift later as she took the garment to go and put it on.

It fell perfectly on her body, enhancing each and every curve and she spun around to admire it in the mirror. The thin straps fell toward the side of her temporary neck ridges, as if the dress was made just for her in this state. Kira was sure she'd be able to wear it again, at the very worst she could take it to Garak to get it adjusted if need be, but it was perfect at the moment.

The blue tinted upside down teardrop on her chest was visible and she touched it lightly with her fingers. Closing her eyes, Kira sighed and went back to the box that her gift had come in. Also contained within was a matching pair of shoes and small shawl. Taking the shoes out first, she slipped them on and then pulled out the shawl. Allowing it to drape over her arms, Kira returned to the mirror to observe herself. It wasn't half as bad as she felt it was, she didn't look horrible as a Cardassian – or rather, Illiana Gehmor must have been a stunning woman.

***

With a deep breath, Kira touched the pad near Sisko's door, alerting him that she had arrived. The door slide open and she was greeted by her Trill friend.

"Oh Nerys! You look stunning!" Dax gestured for the Bajoran-turned-Cardassian to enter as she continued, "How long have you had that dress?"

A look of confusion crossed Kira's features, "What do you mean? Didn't you just drop this by my quarters?"

As Kira asked her question, the Captain stuck his head out to give her a quick greeting before going back to cooking. The science officer shook her head simply, "I've been with Benjamin since I got off duty… 20 minutes ago."

"And I still need your help, Old Man." Came Sisko's voice as he smiled to Kira, "Major – you look lovely."

"Thanks…" Kira blinked a few times in confusion, clearly neither the two in her present company had sent her the gift – so who had? Jadzia disappeared to help Sisko, but emerged a few moments later with the plates and silverware to set the table. As she did so, she looked up at the still confused Major.

"Looks like someone has a secret admirer." The devious Trill commented with a slight smirk, focusing herself on setting the table as she knew a potential glare would be coming in her direction.

"Oh I hardly think that's the case…" Kira trailed off as she thought about what Dax had said, and then shook her head. "No, it's not possible." She corrected and walked up to the table, taking the silverware and helping her friend set the table.

"Suit yourself," the other woman responded as Sisko appeared with some plates of food.

Kira smiled, "Smells wonderful." This granted her a grin from the Captain.

"Well hopefully," he gestured for his guests to sit before taking a seat himself and starting to dish out what he had been laboring over. "It tastes as good as it smells." He flashed another grin as he handed her a full plate.

Soon enough, the three were chatting and laughing and having an all around good time. By the end of the meal, Kira rose to help with the cleanup, but was stopped by both friends.

"Wouldn't want to ruin that dress, allow me." Dax spoke up and collected all the dishes and disappeared.

With a sigh, Kira got up and moved to the couch in the adjoining room, Sisko following her. He seated himself on the opposite end of the couch from his second in command and reclined back.

"So Nerys, did you really buy that dress for this occasion? You hardly have to dress up to come have dinner with me." He glanced over at her, smile that had been upon his lips fading as he saw the nervous expression on her features.

"Come now, it can't be that bad, can it? Sometimes those that give the gifts don't like the recognition, I say just accept it for what it is and appreciate that someone was thinking of you."

Kira sighed at the Emissary's logic, he was right; she didn't need to be stressing herself over who had given her the beautiful dress. Though it confused her that it wasn't Jadzia, who else would give her something like this? Especially if they weren't going to be seeing her in it… or were they?

"Thank you for the dinner, Captain." She smiled and rose to her feet, "But I should probably get going, I've got an early shift tomorrow."

The Captain nodded his head, and once a goodbye and thank you for the invite was given to Dax, Kira Nerys departed.

***

Rather than heading back to her quarters, Kira decided to find Odo. He'd probably know who bought the dress, he saw just about everything that happened on the Promenade. With a smile at the thought that she'd figure out this mystery soon, Kira walked down the empty corridors toward his office on the Promenade, she knew he'd be there working late – as usual.

Sure enough, he was there. Looking up from his work, the changeling was at a loss for words at the sight of Kira.

"What can I do for you, Major?" He finally found his voice to speak, looking at her expectantly as she seemed to hesitate.

"I was wondering if you'd seen anyone make a purchase within the last day of, well, of this dress." She twirled herself around slowly to show it off. When she came back around to face her friend, he was shaking his head and frowning.

"I'm sorry Major, I don't keep track of that sort of thing, but perhaps if you ask Quark or Garak – they seem to be more observant of such things."

"I think I'll pass, thanks anyway, Odo." She replied with a sigh, to which he nodded his head simply as the Bajoran-turned-Cardassian left from his office.

Shaking his head, he went back to his work and used it to try to get her image out of his head, it wasn't easy.

***

"Major?"

The distinct voice of Quark rang out from within his bar as she passed by. Kira wanted nothing more than to just keep walking, and pretend she hadn't heard him, but the footsteps that were approaching told her she wasn't getting away so easily.

"What is it Quark?" She snapped, folding her arms across her chest and glaring, notably covering up the slightly visible cleavage that was just about on his eye level.

"Oh nothing, I just wanted to admire the dress. Got a secret admirer, eh?" The Ferengi asked with a toothy grin. If Kira didn't know better, she would have sworn that Jadzia had been speaking to him, but there was no way she had. That was, unless she really did have something to do with the gift.

"You know something, Quark?" Kira asked curiously, though still with a firm tone.

"Only that a garment like that must come from Garak's shop." The Ferengi wiggled his eye ridges (where eyebrows might be on a human or Bajoran).

As Kira scowled, Quark chuckled and turned away from her, heading back into his less than busy bar to avoid potentially getting struck by the pissed off woman.

***

"Garak?"

Kira was doing this against her better judgment, but she was much too curious for her own good. The male Cardassian looked up from the tailoring job he was working on and smiled at her.

"What a lovely surprise, Major, what can I do for you?"

"Save it, I want to know who purchased this dress for me."

The Cardassian seemed to think this over as he put his work down to approach her. She took an instinctive step away from him, but this didn't deter him from coming up close to her, examining the dress.

"Well, it is my handy work, but I'm afraid I'm not at a liberty to say. I was sworn to secrecy, and all that." He grinned at her, chuckling a bit as well. His eyes lifted back up to her face as he took a comfortable step back from the Major.

Kira folded her arms across her chest, looking quite annoyed at the Cardassian tailor. "That's not funny Garak, I want to know. Someone came into my quarters and left this dress, now either you know who it is or you don't." Her eyes narrowed at him, "I'm willing to bet you do."

Confusion crossed the Major's face as the tailor started to back away, and then finally turn to tend to his mending once more. Starting to turn around, Kira froze as a voice pierced the air.

"I see you were not lying, Garak – for once." The latter half was muttered under the newcomer's strong voice.

"Dukat!" Finally Kira found her ability to move and whirled around to face the Cardassian. A look of pure hatred was on her features as she glared at the man she loathed with every bit of her being.  
"What the hell are you doing here?" She hissed dangerously, trying to find a way to cover her rather exposed upper half (at least compared to what she was used to).

"I heard you had been captured by the Obsidian Order, and came to make sure you were alright." The lanky Cardassian drawled out, a trademark smirk on his features.

"I'm sorry, but the shop is closed for the night – I'm afraid you'll have to continue your discussion outside." Garak spoke suddenly earning a glare from both Dukat and Kira, but they complied and left his shop.

***

"Look Dukat, I don't care why you're here, but I know I don't want to be talking to you right now." Kira started to walk away from him down the rather empty Promenade, as most of the Deep Space Nine residents were asleep for the night or on duty elsewhere.

"My, my, my – you do look ravishing." He quipped to her, ignoring what she had said as he walked in stride with the irritated Major.

"I swear, if you try anything, I'll kill you." She hissed dangerously, quickening her pace to get away from him, but to no avail. "Don't you have a crew to attend to?" She snapped, to which he shook his head and chuckled.

"They're more than capable of taking care of themselves, Major."

"As am I, now leave." The severely pissed off woman warned, almost growling. Were she a Klingon woman, she probably would have, as well as probably broken some bone in his body for even speaking to her, but she wasn't. Her self restraint was wearing thin, though as she quickened her pace once again.

He frowned, and fell back a couple steps, but didn't hesitate much more than that as he followed her through the empty halls.

"Please, Major, do give me the chance." He asked almost sweetly, it made Kira sick, though as she tried to tune him out.

The rest of the brisk walk was in silence, though Dukat was always a stride or two behind her. He was stubborn and determined, and while normally Kira might admire traits like that, she hated them in him.

***

When they arrived at her room, she stopped at the door and turned to face him. For a long time, Kira Nerys didn't know what to say. It was late, and she was tired. She'd had a long week on Cardassia and was ready to be herself again. Garak had been bad enough to deal with, but this – this was worse.


	7. For Cardassia

Kira Nerys was starting to get a headache listening to the Vorta speak, he was almost as bad as the Cardassians. And the news the insufferable little creature brought was worse than Kira thought possible. But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't look away from that screen. The one good thing in all of it, however morbid, was that the Dominion thought that they were dead. It was even important enough to vocalize.

"Well, at least they're not looking for us anymore."

No response came from her two Cardassian companions, each equally drawn to watch the Vorta's message with morbid curiosity. As the message continued, however, it got worse – if that was even possible. Kira's look hardened as she silently glared at the small screen the trio was gathered around.

"All eighteen…" Damar repeated breathlessly, unable to grasp such a concept. He quickly became outraged as the message ended. "How could they have comprised our entire organization? We took every precaution. Encrypted every transmission, screened every–"

"It doesn't matter how they did it." Snapped the Colonel, standing up from the edge of the bed she had been sitting on. "It's done!"

The Bajoran approached the unlikely comrade. She reached out a hand when she was close enough, and spun him around to look at her. "Now, we've got to find a way off Cardassia." She spun to the other Cardassian among them, "Garak, can we use that thing to contact the Federation?"

"With a signal that strong, the Dominion would trace our location in a manner of seconds." He explained, gesturing to the communications device now behind them.

"Well we've gotta do something!" The Bajoran snapped through clenched teeth. "We are not spending the rest of the war in this cellar," she reattached her communicator pin as she continued, "Are we?" She looked between her two comrades, gaze finally settling to stay on Damar.

The aforementioned Cardassian only let out a sigh and walked away from her, around the bed to take up the place she had occupied only moments ago. The former leader sat down heavily as Kira protested again.

"Are we?"

Neither of her two companions said a word, each shifting uncomfortably in their seats.

***

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm not going to sit here and do nothing." Announced the former exile as he stood up and started to rummage through the crates and boxes in the cellar of his childhood home.

Kira looked up curiously.

"And what do you think we're going to do?"

The Bajoran's gaze snapped from Garak to Damar as the latter questioned the former. Garak did not respond, though, only continued to hunt through the contents of all the containers. Kira and Damar exchanged curious glances before looking up to the top of the stairs, where Mila, caretaker of the house, appeared with drinks.

"You all look so down – here." She declared as she descended the stairs, holding in her hands what Garak had apparently been searching for, as he dropped what it was he had been doing to approach the familiar Cardassian.

Once the drinks were handed off to Garak, Mila disappeared again, leaving the three to wallow a bit in their sorrows.

What was presented to them turned out to be alcohol, much to Kira's surprise. Damar, while he also appeared to be a bit surprised, didn't hesitate to take a glass of… whatever it was, none among the trio knew, but none were going to complain.

Damar was the known drinker, and didn't hesitate to down the first drink among the three. Kira was more hesitant, watching as Garak took the next drink. Deciding it best not to be left out, she inhaled a deep breath and drank. And drank… and drank; all three of them, drunk and happy about life for the first time in ages.

"Oh, and you should have seen the looks on their faces!" Concluded the Bajoran Colonel with giddy laughter; her two companions soon chimed in.

Kira told stories of her time as a resistance fighter, at least some of the happier and amusing memories that she had. Her two Cardassian companions found the stories funny, even if they were poking fun at their race.

The former resistance fighter leaned heavily on Damar, which would be much to everyone's surprise… if they weren't drunk. She leaned over to him and swiped the bottle in his hand.

"I think you've had enough." She grinned at him, face inches away from his. A half frown creased his drunken features.

"And I… could say the same about you." He then started to laugh, and Kira pulled her head away from him, laughing as well.

"And I think you've both had way too much," observed Garak, who didn't seem to be as drunk as his comrades.

Kira ignored him, and focused on Damar as she tried to come up with the right words, her speech rather slurred. "I always liked you more than Dukat." A nimble finger poked the Cardassian's armored chest with this revelation. "Quiet, respectful… and good looking too."

"Ah, now Colonel, maybe you should lie down." Garak said, getting up immediately.

Damar waved him off, "No, no – let her speak." He flashed a trademark Cardassian grin, earning a scoff from Garak in return, who sat back down and leaned back with an annoyed look on his features.

"Tell me more," Damar ordered as he leaned closer to Kira. His family was dead; they were likely to be dead soon as well, so why not enjoy life a bit? Mila had been right – they needed this.

"I don't think there's much else to tell." The Colonel grinned back at him, and then turned her head away to finish the bottle. Once it was empty, she placed it down and then looked back at Damar.

Garak spared one glance at the two before rolling his eyes and leaning his head back again. He touched his temples and let out an exasperated sigh. His companions had drunk themselves stupid and were now lip-locked. A few minutes passed and the most sober of the three spared a glance, but wasn't too pleased with what he saw.

"Oh, come on! We have a job to do." He snapped, standing up and looming over them.

Kira giggled like a school girl as her lips parted from Damar's. He, however, ignored Garak and left a trail of kisses down the Bajoran's neck.

"There is a war going on, in case you two forgot." Garak spoke icily, glaring at the two of them.

Slowly but surely, the other two started to come to their senses, what their companion had said starting to sink in. Kira was regaining herself faster, having had a bit less than their alcoholic leader.

"Damar – Damar, stop, Garak – Garak's right." Her breathing was heavy and rapid as her request went ignored.

"Why should I, Nerys?" He breathed to her, hot breath trailing up her neck. It was the first time she had heard her name spoken by a Cardassian and not been ready to gut them for it and she couldn't figure out why.

"Enough," commanded Garak, starting to quickly sober up. After a vague eye roll, Damar moved off and laid down on the other cot.

With a look that could almost be called dreamy, Kira picked up the bottle she had put down moments again and laid back as well. She started to play with it, turning it over and over again in her hands, focusing on its dark glass.

***

Having pulled her knees up a bit, so her feet could rest flat on the bed, Kira was still examining the bottle. All three had really sobered up, though, and the Colonel was trying hard not to think of what she had just been enjoying about twenty minutes ago. Damar had been quiet, lying in a similar position to the Bajoran in the other bed, though one leg hung off the side of the small cot as he stared up at the ceiling. Garak had long since sat back down in his seat and had also remained silent.

"If only they could see you now," Mila's voice wafted down the stairs as the door swished open from the main part of the house.

"Who?" The most silent of the trio was the first to speak, though he did not move. Neither did the other two as the elder Cardassian woman descended the stairs to the cellar.

"The people in the streets. Everyone's talking about Damar," she drawled out his name as she came to a stop a few steps from the bottom, leaning on the railing as she looked down at the trio. "And his rebels."

It was Kira's turn to speak up, though did not look away from what she was doing – peeling the label off the bottle in her hands. "What are they saying? How stupid we were for walking into a Dominion trap?"

"How arrogant we were," Damar picked up her sentence and ran with it, "To think we could beat them in the first place."

"How glad they are that we're all dead." Garak finished morbidly, staring at the floor.

"Actually, they don't really believe you are dead." Mila explained, seating herself on the step that she stood upon.

This caused Kira to turn her head away from the bottle she was playing with, looking to the elder woman as she continued to speak.

"Oh you should hear the stories," she started, taking a quick and sharp breath before recounting what she had been hearing. "Damar's alive, my cousin saw him on Kelvas Prime.' 'He faked his own death.' 'He's plotting a new offensive from his secret mountain hideaway.'"

Kira rose up from her position on the small cot, intrigued at what she was hearing. Damar, on the other hand, reacted only slightly to the sound of his name, mostly rolling his eyes at the extravagance of the stories. Garak easily made light of the situation.

"You never told me you had a secret mountain hideaway."

"I was going to surprise you." Damar remarked almost instantly, the vague hints of a smile evident on his scaled features as he closed his eyes – resisting the urge to shake his head or roll his eyes.

Kira, propped up on one arm, spoke up next. "I wonder why they refuse to believe you're dead."

"Oh, they've been lied to so often. They don't trust anything the Dominion says." Damar replied, opening his eyes again, but not otherwise moving as he spoke.

The Colonel rolled over onto her stomach, now propped up on both elbows. "No, what if it's more than that?" She didn't look at anyone in particular as she mused out loud. "What if we had more of an impact than we realized?" Slowly, she shifted her gaze over to Damar, "What if we turned you into a legend?"

He scoffed at this, "Tch, some legend…"

"Don't you see? The people want to believe in you, we can use that. Yes, the organized resistance is gone, but there's an entire civilian population out there that is fed up with living under the Occupation. And if Damar," She had looked away from him again, eyes going between Mila, the floor, and Garak, "tells the people of Cardassia to rise up against the Dominion…"

"Then we might have a revolution on our hands." Garak finished, earning a look from the Colonel.

"Or you might really get yourselves killed," added Mila, shaking her head a bit.

"Anything's better than rotting in this cellar," Damar finally spoke, glancing around a bit at the ceiling above him. "How do we begin?" He asked, finally sitting up and looking at the other three that were gathered.

Kira also sat up all the way, her eyes glimmering with an idea. "Where's the closest Jem'Hadar barracks?"

***

Everything had been a success so far, the people were now, finally, rising up against the oppression. After a rescue from what had seemed to be a check mate, the small team was now headed for their last target – the main base. They were going to get in there, get the Founder, and end the war once and for all.

Kira kept remembering the speech Damar had given to incite the rebellion amongst the people. It reminded her of her time during the Occupation on Bajor, and helped to inspire her to keep fighting – even if she wasn't fighting for Cardassia, she was fighting to free an oppressed people.  
Images flashed in the Bajoran's mind at just an hour ago, when power had been lost all across the city, the three of them working in the dark to be ready to hit them again (and hit them hard, as noted by the Colonel); the look in Damar's eye, one that reminded her so much of herself when she was in the same position all those years ago; the sound of his voice as he thanked her for everything she had done, summed up in one eloquent set of words. Only when Garak had spoken of the irony did Kira find the words to speak and discount her role in all this.

He had become so strong. Since that kick in the ass over his family, and Kira's subsequent comment on his thoughts on it, he had really shaped up and grown from the experience – as predicted by Garak.

Now they sat behind crates and containers, waiting for the charges to be placed on the entrance to the cargo bay that would lead them to their goal. Nervousness was evident in Damar's hollow gaze; this was it – their last stand against the Dominion. A strong hand was placed on his shoulder, and his eyes lifted to that of Kira Nerys. Would they all make it? Seemed to be the question behind his eyes, but no comforting answer was received from his comrade and his eyes dropped.

Finally Garak came back, crouching down behind Kira.

"We have a problem."

"Just one?" She asked bitterly, not looking at him as the sounds of the Dominion attacks all around them created an air of uncertainty.

"I'm afraid it's a rather large problem." This caused the commander to turn her head to view the Cardassian more clearly as he explained what the problem was.

"The cargo door is made of neutronium."

"Then the explosives we brought… aren't even going to make a dent…"

"You see the problem."

"What do we do?" asked the rebel sitting next to Damar, concern lacing his scaled features.

Damar readjusted his grip on the phase rifle he was holding, "I don't know, but I'm through hiding in basements." He looked at Kira and Garak, the latter of which began to laugh.

"I fail to see what is so funny, Garak." He stated, half an annoyed look on his features at the situation.

Garak explained, through laughter, what it was that brought such an emotion to the table at a time like this. "Well, isn't it obvious? Here we are… ready to, storm the castle," he made a few gestures with his hand as he continued. "Willing to sacrifice our lives in the noble effort to slay the Dominion beast…" He broke off into laughter, unintelligible words leaving his mouth as Kira started to laugh along side of him.

Kira started to lean on the laughing Cardassian as she, too, broke into fits of uncontrollable laugher.

"And we can't even get inside the gates…" finished Garak, still laughing.

A smile finally came from Damar, even a faint one from the soldier next to him as they chuckled at the humor behind the situation.

"Maybe… maybe we could go up to the door and ask the Jem'Hadar to let us in." suggested the commander through fits of laughter, making a knocking motion with one hand as she did so.

"Or will just have them send the shape shifter out to us." Damar added, causing the whole group of them to burst out laughing.

Once everything caught their breath and the laughter was quelled, Garak added, "As I said – we have a problem."

Everyone had settled, and each sat quietly trying to figure out how they could all get inside.

Damar was the first with a vocal suggestion, "What if I give myself up, and pretend to be a prisoner?"

"They'd kill you on site," observed Kira with a frown.

"And us along with you," added Garak with an uneasy confidence in the words he spoke.

Just then, the sounds of the heavy cargo door filled the air, observed by the solider sitting next to Damar.

"The cargo door…"

Everyone turned to peer over from their hiding place to see what was taking place. Cardassians were being dragged out forcibly from the instillation, one making rather loud protests at this fact.

"You're making a terrible mistake! I'm not a traitor! Please! Just let me speak to the Founder!" It was Damar's replacement as leader of Cardassia under the Dominion, and as he turned around to face the Jem'Hadar to continue his protests, he was killed by the two guards without a second's hesitation. His last words echoed in the group's heads, but in the end went ignored because of the amazing opportunity this had provided them.

Damar was the first to move and he didn't hesitate, picking up a second phaser, he shot both Jem'Hadar dead at the same time, advancing forward with his small team of four behind him.

"For Cardassia!" Was the shout heard over and over as the small group charged into battle, Damar at the head.

The resistance they met from the Jem'Hadar was heavy at first, and the initial soldier that had run out to meet them pummeled Damar with phaser blasts; two to the shoulder and one that grazed across his side and as he stumbled back, a few more grazed across his legs. A phaser blast came from just to his side, as Kira felled the Jem'Hadar monster than had shot Damar.

The Cardassian leader stumbled back against the Bajoran, and she cradled him with one hand carefully as she continued to fire her phaser at the oncoming Jem'Hadar soldiers. Pulling back a bit behind some cover, she came to a crouch next to Garak, the other two soldiers dispatching of the remaining Jem'Hadar in the corridor as Kira cradled Damar in her lap, eyes burning.

He may have been her enemy once, he may have been what she hated, but he was still a man – a man that was willing to die to free his people. He had the heart of every Bajoran resistance fighter from all those years ago, fought with courage and bravery. But Commander Kira was going to be damned if she saw him die like this, so close to the end.

"It's okay, stay with us, Damar." Kira shed her cloak that she had been wearing to hide her Starfleet uniform, Garak helping her with the fallen Cardassian.

"Keep…" were all the words the weakened Cardassian leader could get out as he lost consciousness. Not dead (at least not yet), but not able to fight.

Kira looked between the gathered group, "Remember his orders… we stop for nothing!"

"For… Cardassia!" Shouted Garak at the top of his lungs in response to this, the other two chiming in before Garak's voice had even faded out. They had come too far to be stopped now.

Kira signaled everyone on ahead and then lifted Damar to his feet, he groaned groggily, eyes flickering half open to peer into the eyes of the Bajoran.

"Come on, Damar, you're going to see this through." She said through clenched teeth, and wrapped his arm around her neck and helped to guide him forward. One arm was wrapped around his waist, so she could still use the phaser in it if need be. Their pace quickened as the sounds of the fighting got closer.

The first one to the briefing room killed one of the last two Jem'Hadar, but was killed by the last, collapsing back against the wall – dead instantly. Having allowed Damar a chance to rest against the wall just outside their target room, Kira whipped around the corner and took out the last Jem'Hadar soldier in the room, leaving Weyoun and the Founder.

Three of them came in unharmed, weapons raised and pointed at the Founder and Vorta. A look of shock came across the face of the pair, now without their Jem'Hadar guards to protect them.

Weyoun recovered quickly, though. "What a pleasant surprise." He drawled out, eyes still wide in shock as he moved around the Founder to get a slightly better view of the gathered group.

"Pleasure's all mine," Kira spoke sarcastically, eying the Vorta and his 'god'.

"The Federation fleet has surrounded the planet," reported one of the team survivors from a nearby console.

"I want you to contact the Jem'Hadar and the Breen – and you order their ships to stand down." The commander ordered, never taking her eyes off the two prisoners.

"And order your troops on Cardassia to do the same." Garak added, hand shifting uncomfortably with the phaser and his desire to squeeze the trigger.

The Founder relented, "I will do no such thing."

"Tell me, where is my old friend, Damar?" The Vorta asked, looking around for a brief moment, before bringing his weak eyes back on Kira and Garak.

"Right here," came the Cardassian's voice, just seconds before a phaser blast left the weapon clutched in his hand.

Everyone's eyes opened in surprise, but as soon as the energy was released from the weapon, it was dropped and Damar clutched his side – even if it wasn't the greatest pain, it was the least awkward place to try and hold himself, in hopes of the pain subsiding. His shoulders burned with the searing pain of the phaser blasts he had taken there, and his side wasn't much better. His clothing was starting to become soaked in blood as he staggered back, grabbing onto a console to brace himself against it.

"I wish you hadn't done that," the Founder looked up from her deceased Vorta to the gathered group, eyeing Damar specifically. "That was Weyoun's last clone."

"We were hoping you'd say that," Garak answered with a vague smile, pleased that the filthy creature was finally dead.

Kira approached the dying Founder, "This war's over – you lost."

"Have I?" The shape shifter turned and started to walk away from the Colonel. "I think you'll find that neither the Jem'Hadar or the Breen will agree with that sentiment." She walked around to her desk, "They will fight to the last man."

"And what will that accomplish?" Kira asked almost bitterly, everyone else silent, even Damar as he tried to stay focused on the situation.

The Founder spread her hands about as she answered the question, "Isn't it obvious? You may win this war, Commander, but I promise you – when it is over you will have lost so many ships, so many lives…" The Founder sat down at her desk, "That your victory will taste as bitter as defeat."

It was a stalemate, no one knew what to say or do. Damar managed to get the strength to come to Kira and Garak's sides, leaning on the former who readily offered to help him by wrapping one arm around his waist in support.

"Get me the Defiant," Kira ordered Garak, looking over at him. With a nod of his head, he obliged and soon enough they were speaking with Sisko and Odo.

"We're glad to see you in once piece, Commander."

"Very glad." To this, Kira smiled, happy to see everyone, especially Odo, were alright.

"What's your status?"

"Four of us made it to the briefing room."

"What about Damar?"

"Wounded, but I think he'll live." The commander looked off to the side to see him, sitting nearby in silence, eyes almost glazed over as he stared at the floor.

"Is your position secure?"

"I don't think the Jem'Hadar will attack, they won't risk endangering the Founder. And she's in pretty bad shape; she just… sits at her desk, deteriorating."

"If she dies before ordering the Jem'Hadar to surrender…"

"Then they will fight to the last man." Captain Sisko finished for his Klingon officer.

Odo turned to him, "Captain, I should beam down there. The Founder will speak with me, I can reason with her."

"You haven't had much success with her in the past."

"It's worth a try, think of the lives it could save."

"Very well," Sisko gave a very faint nod of his head as he acknowledged the Constable. "Commander," He looked back up to the view screen, where Kira brought her attention back to him. "Tell the Founder that Odo is going to pay her a visit."

She nodded in agreement, "And send Dr. Bashir if you can spare him, Damar needs a doctor."

"I'm on my way." Bashir piped up and headed out after Odo to join him in the transporter room.

Sisko nodded to him, and then to Kira, "Anything else, Commander?"

"I think we can handle it from here, Captain, Kira out."

The channel closed and Kira looked over at the Founder, who still just sat at her desk – dying. Then her gaze went to Damar, who was looking worse and worse as time passed. Approaching him, she kneeled down at his side.

"You doing alright?"

"I… look worse than I feel… I imagine." He provided a weak and encouraging smile to her. She took this with a nod, and started to rise to pace the room and wait for Odo and the Doctor. A hand reached out and touched her arm, and she stopped, looking back down at Damar and kneeling once again.

"We've done it… Nerys… Cardassia is… free," and then he passed out, eliciting a frustrated grunt from the commander.

She rose and started to pace, about to ask "where's that damn Doctor?" when she, along with the others, heard the familiar sound of the transporter. Turning around, Kira saw Odo and Dr. Bashir materialize.

The Doctor reacted right away, going over to the fallen Cardassian with a med kit and getting to work. In the back of her mind, Kira heard Bashir tap his com badge and contact the Defiant.

"Bashir to Defiant, two to beam directly to sickbay." And with that, he was gone with Damar.

Odo was much slower getting into the situation, approaching the one he loved very carefully.

"Nerys," he breathed softly, and Kira closed the rest of the distance between them, smiling a little.

"It's been a while."

"Yes," was all he could think to say in response.

"Watch yourself, I don't trust her." Kira got right down to business, after all, they had to stop the attack from the Jem'Hadar and Breen before the Founder, herself, died.

"But you trust me…"

"Of course," she answered with a small nod of her head and a smile.

"That's all I need to know," Odo replied as he turned and started to head toward the Founder. He was acknowledged by Garak on the way, but only paid enough heed to him to greet the Cardassian with his name, eyes forward and locked on the dying Founder.

***

"How are you feeling?" Kira Nerys appeared in the infirmary, eyes settling on Cardassia's hero. They had brought him back to Deep Space Nine so Doctor Bashir could keep an eye on him, but he was expected to be discharged at any time now. On her last visit, he had been asleep.

"Drugged." The Cardassian replied wearily. "How about you?" He smiled to her with as much strength as he could muster.

"I'm doing fine, but Odo's going back to the Great Link…"

"Ah," he responded, nodding his head and closing his eyes again, not pressing for any more information.

Kira came up to his side and covered his hands with one of hers. He opened his eyes again and looked up at her with those dull blue eyes of his. They were so easy to see in the bright light of the infirmary, Kira had never really noticed them before now.

"If you're feeling well later, there's a party in Holosuite two tonight."

"I'll see what I can do." He chuckled a little, but winced a bit at the pain the movement caused him. An encouraging smile spread across his lips, though, to assure the Bajoran he was alright.

Returning the smile, Kira gently patted his folded hands before turning and leaving, going to change into her Bajoran uniform.

Doctor Bashir came in a few moments later, checking some things over before turning to the Cardassian.

"Well, everything checks out – you're good to go." The young doctor smiled and assisted his patient up. He then disappeared for a moment, coming back the next with clothes in hand. "Garak left these; he thought you might need some new clothes."

"Remind me to thank him." Damar commented, taking the clothes from the Doctor, who left him alone.

***

"Colonel, could I speak with you?"

Kira turned around to see Damar smiling to her and Odo, the latter to which he nodded his head in greeting.

"Sure, what do you need?" She said, and followed him to as empty a part of the room as they could find to speak.

"I wanted to apologize to you, Colonel." A look of surprised crossed her features, but she stayed silent and allowed the Cardassian to speak. It was not often one of them came to her to apologize for their actions (at least without making an event of it, as Dukat had always been famous for).

"From the time we first met, I was nothing but rude and arrogant." Kira nodded slowly, she wasn't going to disagree with this assessment. "And even after all I did…"

"Like killing Ziyal?" She interjected with a frown and folding her arms across her chest.

Damar sighed, "Yes." His voice was low as he admitted to this, "I heard what she said though, and I deemed her a traitor, and then acted on sight."

Kira shook her head, "That girl was like family to me, and you took her life away," she snapped her finger in the air, "Just like that. She was a young woman with everything ahead of her in life, and you ripped that away. And I cannot forgive you for that Damar."

He sighed and rubbed the side of his face in a vague painful memory of the last time he had done anything against Ziyal and Kira had been there. She had beat him pretty good, even fractured the cartilage in the ridges encircling his eyes.

"I don't expect you to, Colonel." He had gone from calling her Kira or Nerys in rare occasions to keeping to her title.

"Then why are you doing this?" She asked, now confused as to what was going on.

Damar looked past the Bajoran that he stood with, noticing that Odo was observing them from afar, much like he always did as Security Chief. Eyes came back to Kira as he sucked in a deep breath.

"I've done and said things that I am not proud of, but I want you to know, I could not have done any of this without you… I probably wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for you and for that, I thank you."

"You saved my life, and Odo's – I was only returning the favor." Kira observed quietly, even though part of her told her that this wasn't the whole truth.

"No, it's more than that." He shot back at her, only to have her shake her head and turn away from him.

"Maybe we can discuss this some other time, Damar." And without another word, the Colonel disappeared into the crowd to find Odo again and the rest of the crew.

***

"Do you mind?"

Odo looked over to see Damar, smiling as warmly as possible for a Cardassian. Stopping, Odo and Kira exchanged glances. The Bajoran shrugged and took Damar's waiting hand as he swept her back into the dancing. Odo was relieved; he was not a dancer – to say the least. He quickly exited the dance floor in favor of the bar and sat down next to O'Brian and Bashir.

Each man looked up at the changeling, surprised to see Kira was not with him.

"Where's –"

"Over there." Odo cut in with his gruff reply before O'Brian could finish his question. The two humans turned together to see Kira dancing with the Cardassian.

Both looked a bit shocked and turned back to the bar, deciding it best not to say anything in front of Odo, as much as each of them wanted to comment.

"He's a good dancer." O'Brian muttered as he quickly brought the glass of his drink to his lips. Odo snorted and left them, leaving the party altogether, in fact.

Bashir watched this, and then looked back at O'Brian, "I hope he's okay."

"Ah, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Aren't you the least bit surprised?" Bashir asked, taking a drink and looking to his best friend.

"About what? Damar being nice to Kira? Or Kira being nice to him?" He shook his head, "Hnh, I don't know what to think other than they spent a lot of time together for that resistance."

Bashir nodded in agreement and both men took gulps of their drinks and turned around from the bar to watch all the dancers. There was Sisko and Kasidy, among others.


End file.
